Jewelry articles, particularly rings, can be stored and displayed in a variety of trays, holders or racks. The most common type of jewelry display for rings, described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,975, comprises a pad, generally of a plush felt or velvet material, which is placed in a tray, preferably of square or rectangular shape. The felt pad which rests within the tray is provided with a plurality of downwardly extending recesses into which a ring is inserted and which are generally configured such that the circular shank or lower portion of a ring is retained in the felt. The tray portion of this type of display is often configured to permit a plurality of trays to be nested upon each in stacked fashion.
However, rings and other articles of jewelry are often provided with indicia labels or tags that contain important information such as composition, i.e. gold, silver, platinum, etc., weight, price and/or bar codes. Since indicia labels often detract from the beauty of the jewelry being displayed, some jewelers in the trade neglect to attach indicia tags to the jewelry, resorting instead to looking up price, composition and weight information, etc., in an index or price book. This, however, takes time and customers may become impatient while waiting to receive all the information. Jewelers, thus prefer to attach indicia tags directly to the jewelry so as to have immediate access to all information pertaining to that article. It is, however, preferred by those in the jewelry trade to keep such indicia labels out of sight of potential customers since it is hoped that a customer will first be impressed by the ring which they may see in a store window or display case and then be enticed to enter the store to inquire further before seeing the price of the ring.
Prior art display trays, however, do not permit the rings to be stored and displayed while keeping the indicia tag out of sight. The upper surface of the prior art display tray are often provided with outwardly extending tabs permit only a limited portion of the indicia tag to be inserted underneath the tab. As such, the indicia tab is often left to hang free on the felt.
The prior art display trays have also been found to inadequately secure and retain the jewelry items within the display case, particularly when the trays are moved or transported. Often times since the rings are constantly removed and reinserted from the tabs in the felt upper surface, the salesperson neglects to fully insert the ring into the tab, thus leaving the ring in a virtually unsecured condition.
Accordingly, there is a need for a jewelry display tray employed to display and store articles of jewelry therein, and which avoids the disadvantages discussed above.